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Wii Warm Up: The questing continues
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was one of the biggest surprise hits of the year, its word-of-mouth success prompting a release on every relevant platform -- first the PSP and DS, then Xbox Live Arcade and Windows, and this week, the Wii and PS2 (with a Mobile version in the works). But with over eight months past since Puzzle Quest made its debut on handhelds and two months since its first console port, are you still interested enough in this game to pick it up?We haven't seen any previews or impressions so far, so we can only assume that developer Vicious Cycle Software hasn't added anything to the original game beyond the bug fixes and balance tweaks that were already in place with the Xbox Live Arcade version. It's safe to assume that there won't be any sort of online functionality either, which is really disappointing when you consider that cheaper versions of Puzzle Quest have had support for online multiplayer battles for months now.
Puzzle Quest announced for all platforms (except PS3)
D3 Publisher surprise hit Puzzle Quest has been on the march for months now. Having already conquered the PSP and Nintendo DS, the game was known to be preparing for an assault on the Wii and Xbox Live Arcade. We've now received intel on a move to the PC, PlayStation 2 and mobile phones, as well. Original developer Infinite Interactive will be handling the PC version and co-developing the mobile with THQ's Universomo studio; the mobile version will be published and distribute by THQ via its ValuSoft and Wireless divisions. Vicious Cycle, recently acquired by D3 and who previously worked on the PSP version, will be co-developing Puzzle Quest for Wii and PS2. Conspicuously absent from the announcement is mention of a PlayStation 3 version, either as a retail product or the more likely PlayStation Network download. We've contacted D3 for information. In the meantime, check out the highly addictive PC demo of the game.
D3 acquires developer Vicious Cycle
D3 Publisher of America and Vicious Cycle Software, makers of the Vicious Engine, have joined forces in that old, synergistic bond known as an acquisition. Vicious Cycle will become a subsidiary and will stay in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The two have collaborated before on PSP version of Puzzle Quest and the upcoming Dead Head Fred. PSP Fanboy has been covering Dead Head Fred extensively; the game is due out later this year.
Vicious Engine envisions creative Wii FPS controls
While at the Vicious Cycle booth, we got a chance to view at Vicious Engine, now working on the Wii, and how the team sees to implement controls for first-person and over-the-shoulder titles. Essentially, only the nunchuk is used for camera and movement. The top joystick moves and strafes your character, while left and right rotations trigger the accelerometer and rotate the characters perspective left and right and a forward / back roll with cause the camera to look down / up, respectively. In play testing the control scheme, using the accelerometer control to move the camera feels awkward, and the rotations seem to move in 15 degree spurts (as opposed to fluid movement). After a few minutes, however, the movement became more intuitive. With the simplification of movement in one hand, the other hand (and, more importantly, the infrared motion sensor) is free to control whatever -- sword-fighting or off-of-middle cursor positioning. Level Designer Bryan West told us, rather bemused, that with how the control scripts are implemented in the engine that even he could build a game with what's available. Visually, the engine looked slightly better than Red Steel, especially the character model we saw. West talked with us and lamented about the common trend of ignoring Wii's graphical capability and simply upscaling textures used for PSP titles. We're assuming, then, that we won't be seeing the same issue with Alien Syndrome, a PSP and Wii title using the Vicious Engine. West also told us that they are working on a Wii game internally that involves the Vicious Engine but cannot currently discuss at this time.
